Forging tools?

[Jason_G]

I know this had to have been asked many times before, but my searches for "hammers" and a perusal through the stickies turned up nada, so I apologize if my question has already been answered:

I've never forged before, and I just got a two burner LP forge, and I am wanting to know what I should buy as far as hammers (hand-held), tongs, gloves, etc, goes. I have a piece of railroad track that I was going to set on end in a tree stump or something, and use as an anvil, so I think I have that base covered, at least until I can find something better. I have no idea what hammer(s) and tongs to get though.


Thanks in advance,

Jason

 

[quint]

Yeah this is just the beginning haha. I just started a couple months ago myself. I got some tongs from blacksmithdepot that are the knife maker ones. You can find them there on the site. They actually work pretty good for thin sections of steel. If you look for some tutorials and watch some videos you can make your own if you want to try that for your first forging adventure.

My first hammer was one of the blacksmith hammers (cross peen) that you can get at lowes or home depot. I got a 4lb one. You will have to dress the face up some which helps a ton with hammer marks. Since then I have picked up a few off of ebay. I do most of my forming to begin with with the larger hammer. Once I get to a good shape I change to a smaller hammer thats actually a ball peen about 3lb that works pretty good for smoothing out. Its got a nice big face thats got just a slight dome to it.

Check out Iforgeiron they have some good instruction for the blacksmithing side of things and also list alot of anvils for various areas that people find. Hopefully some of the guys with more experience will pipe in.

 

[Rick Lowe]

Sounds like you have all the basics to begin forging, except tongs and hammer. Blacksmith's Depot is a good source for tongs and hammers (they're about 2 miles from me). If cost is an issue to start, a hammer from a hardware store will sure work, just a quint has said. I would suggest starting with one a little lighter, maybe 2lbs. My "go to" money hammer is a Pedinghaus from Blacksmith's Depot that weighs in at 1000kg or 2.2lbs. Don't really need anything else, but the number 2 hammer is a medium ball peen from a flea market. As quint mentioned, you will want to re-surface the face to remove any sharp points or lines, leaving a nice domed face. The best bladesmith I know uses long handled needle nose pliers from Harbor Freight that he modifies by welding pieces of metal on the ends to fit his needs. He also has other tongs picked up at flea markets that work on bigger projects. I spent my early days using large vise grips and gloves. Got too hot, and invested in real tongs. You don't need lots of tongs to start, just several different types. Off set goosenecksand wolf jaws are two that work very well with knife blanks.